North Korean citizens will soon be watching television via a Netflix-style video-on-demand service if state media is to be believed.

A set-top box will stream documentaries about the leadership, news stories and Russian and English language lessons into people’s homes, KCTV reported.

The device was shown to offer viewers the ability to search for programs in an online archive.

Kim Jong Min, head of the centre in charge of information and technology, said in a KCTV report: “If a viewer wants to watch, for instance, an animal movie and sends a request to the equipment, it will show the relevant video to the viewer…this is two-way communications.”

VOD, meanwhile, enables users to chose when and what programmes they watch, such as with Netflix and Amazon Prime.

North Korea has made a habit of manufacturing poor imitations of American technology. In 2013, the Washington Post reported on its Android ripoff. Earlier this year, the government released a Facebook clone, the BBC reported.

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